Anti Griefing? How about banning bots?

Communications Center General Discussion
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I can say, as a software developer, that client modifications are never as effective in detecting and removing bots as server changes are. I’ve been playing (on and off) for 15 years and I know how many bots were detected and banned over the years. But it’s an endless battle. Each time a change or detection method on the server or client is applied, bot developers are adapting their software. It’s more difficult and time consuming when the change is on the server. I have seen enough Dev presentations and read enough devblogs over the years (some of them very technical) to know that, contrary to the popular belief, CCP is constantly working on detecting and banning new versions of bots. Yes, it may take some time for a new detection algorithm to be built, tested and applied - but they have been doing it since the game launched.

This being said, changing the game mechanics for the worse and sacrificing enjoyment or usability of regular players is never the answer. The bots will adapt, but the changes will stay harming the overall experience.

The best thing we can all do is - find and report them… and hope that the reports are giving CCP useful info about bot’s working pattern so that they can start working on the new detection algorithm. It takes time and development effort, but the bots are always banned at the end.

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Now, to be clear, bots do exist, some players certianly seem to know what they are talking about, and CCP should definitely take all reasonable measures to fight against botting.

However, I know for a fact that some players see bots where there are none, and I suspect that a lot of “bots” are the result of uninformed and/or biased players making false assumptions.

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For example, back when I was an industrialist doing the 1 isk war in smaller market hubs like Clellion and Oursalaert, my goal was not to update market orders 24/7, but to make competitors feel like they were wasting their time trying to compete with me. So, I would relentlessly update orders until they gave up, and then go about my business. Anyway, one of the first times I was doing this, someone sent me a chat invite. it was my competitor wanting to make sure I wasn’t a bot. I confirmed that I wasn’t, and chatted with him for a bit, but it got me thinking -it was actually in my best interest that competitors thought I was a bot, because that would make them give up sooner. After all, there is no way that they can compete with a bot -it’s just a question of how long do they want to bash their head against the wall. And so, I decided not to disabuse anyone else of their suspicions that I was a market bot moving forward… and it wasn’t until I started thinking about things like player retention that I began to rethink that strat.

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And that’s just one way in which people have erroneously assumed I was a bot or using macros. Speaking of which, seeing bots where there are none isn’t the only problem like this. Ever see the threads of players asserting that multiboxing gankers must be using macros? They’ll say things like they know for a fact that they’re cheating because they saw their entire fleet warp at the exact same time. And then you explain fleet warp to them, and link a jason kusion video. And they respond with, “yeah, but you can’t see what he’s doing on his keyboard, and even if this did prove he wasn’t cheating now, that doesn’t mean that he never cheats.” And then you begin to wonder how much of the issue is due to a failure to understand game mechanics, how skilled some players are, and how hardcore they can be, and how much of it is due to players looking to vilify their enemies and competitors. And then you realize that ignorance, misinformation, and bias isn’t just a problem when it comes to video game arguments, but also with real world politics. And you begin to wonder if humanity will be doomed to keep screwing itself over through it’s own stupidity… which causes you lose some of your hope and optimism for the the future. So you take a belt straight from the whiskey bottle, login your gankers and start killing every target of opportunity that you can find, because you don’t know how to deal with your feelings of frustration and hopelessness in non-destructive ways.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK

YES THEY DESERVED TO DIE, AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL!!!
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Well… this post got a little out of hand. Maybe I should just end it here.

Hasta la vista baby,
Shipwreck Jones

P.S. Kill all humans.

6 Likes
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I am regularly in and out of Jita. In fact it is where I buy and fit most of my new ships and where I buy ammo, supplies, new parts, etc. I have flown all manner of ships out of Jita and have never once been targetted. As with Uedama ( which I also regularly fly through ) the dangers are highly exaggerated. Heck…I have even been mining in Uedama just to make the point.

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Very similar to people who when they die in an fps accuse the other of being a hacker. “I don’t like you so here’s some word I heard but I don’t know what it actually means other than it’s negative”.

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Exactly. They meant the people who target T1 miners all the time–and, I’m glad they’re going to do something.

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I agree with that. Well said.
Not only that but regular players are 1000 times more populous than bots on the server so they don’t really bother me., really, more like a fly in the room.

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No. They very specifically said they were not referring to suicide ganking.

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Make and insta undock and 0 from dock book mark. Problem solved.

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when?

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Yep. And CCP doesn’t want to get rid of them cause they are useful to their bottom line. Then I’m supposed to take CCP seriously :unamused:

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I was a world top 50 and competition FPS player many years ago. Not posting what game because my name age and face are out there. Cheating is present in higher tiers of gameplay and it will never go away. In EVE people will use bots for convenience, for profit or to scrape info, lots of reasons. Accusing someone of being a botter has netted me dozens upon dozens of emails from CCP support saying my report had been actioned.

It is realistic that you can report someone for botting in EVE because there are a lot of people doing it.

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Great reply, your intellect and wit have stunned me.

Of course they would filter out only some reports by me to say they actioned the report, because encouraging someone to send in even more reports that are manually assessed for veracity is a great idea if the individual is already wasting your time.

Please engage your brain. Allowing images and gifs on the new forums was a mistake and only lowers the level of dialogue.

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:nerd_face:

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I feel like the “banning the bots” complaint is from people who don’t want the fanfest videos about what CCP does against bots.

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I haven’t travelled the entire route in one go, but I’ve gone from Jita to my personal HQ at Vittenyn…and separate trips from Vittenyn to Ammar ( the later being 37 jumps or so via highsec ). I’ve no idea how you know what is a bot, along the way. I see loads of ships hanging about at gates. I rarely see known gankers at gates…though they often appear in Local. I’m just puzzled how you identify the bots on a 37 jump trip.

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